Working on Kitchen Projects in the Little Pine Cottage
Working on kitchen projects in our little pine cottage filled us with joy as we included more salvaged materials to our renovations.
SHOPPING AT LOCAL ANTIQUE STORE
We made our way to a local antique store on the hunt for more old things to add to our little pine cottage. If you haven’t noticed, we love old things and a good antique store. This is a place we’ve come to several times and even bought our old antique brass hinges for our built-ins here. There is oftentimes new stuff to see so we had to check it out again.
Seeing old salvaged things on display brings us great happiness. With so much ending up in the landfill these days, it awesome to see a bit of history being preserved in stores like this.
We had our eyes on many old stoves, but have decided that could get a bit too complicated with everything else we have going on. Maybe something to consider for the future.
Oh~ and we can’t forget about doors. Remember, that was on our list when we visited the Round Top Antiques Fair. And here we are still on the hunt for the perfect time period front door. It’s difficult sometimes to look through so many doors to find the right size. And make sure it’s still in pretty good condition. Hoping we find one soon!
Our favorite fried chicken place is in the same neighborhood as the store. We love to make a visit there after a productive day of antique shopping! It’s always a treat before we head home. Since we don’t have one near our house, it’s something we look forward to every time we come to the area.
Heading back home we drive through the downtown Dallas area and it’s so pretty. Except for all the traffic that’s not so pretty. There are so many people here!
WORKING ON VARIOUS KITCHEN PROJECTS
We were excited to work on the new salvaged addition we got from the antique store when we got home. This one would be displayed proudly in our little cottage kitchen and give it a look and feel that makes all the difference.
An old schoolhouse light made of milk glass. It was so much better than the cheap knockoff we previously had in its place. There is just something magical about the real deal thing. That seems to be the case with most items in our renovations.
I know these days that a lot of folks like to go for more of the modern stuff that looks old. Maybe that’s because it’s easier to find, in better condition, and perhaps cheaper at times. But, the old stuff is what really makes an old historic home like ours pop and maintain it’s significance.
We know of people who buy historic homes, but then just fill the inside with modern items. That’s their prerogative, but why not try to keep some of the stuff time period if you can. I think it makes it so much more cozy and a wonderful contribution to preservation right in your own home.
If you have an older home, I hope you also consider some of these things as well. Like they always say~ they don’t make them like they used to anymore! It really is true!
Some of the other projects involved building open shelves for the kitchen. We thought it would be better than bulky cabinets in our small space. And of course, we used beautiful old reclaimed wood for the project. The grains in the wood were so amazing. There is nothing like the old stuff.
We also cleaned up the antique 1940’s sink we have and added a new Kohler drain assembly to it. What a difference a cleaned up old sink looked like! It was sparkling! And with the new drain, it had a nice bit of a modern touch to it.
PREPPING FOR BEADBOARD KITCHEN PROJECT
Since the reclaimed wood butcher block countertop was complete, we needed to tackle the cabinets underneath it. This would be more storage for cleaning supplies, pots and pans, pantry items, tools, or whatever.
Nate primed and painted all the wood so that it would have a clean finish and be easy to maintain. Especially for any spills and such. He removed the countertop temporarily as he got this task done.
One thing we were looking forward to was adding beadboard siding all around the cabinetry below the butcher block countertop. This would make the whole island (peninsula) pop full of reclaimed goodness!
All of this prep work was necessary to get to that point. Nate also put in some plywood under the countertop for where the dishwasher would eventually be placed. He also added some wooden support brackets around the outside of the lower cabinets for the beadboard to have something to lean up against. Since they will be installed by their tongue and groove, the extra support should work out great.
The prep work required him to caulk, prime, and paint all the wood for the lower cabinets. We are not expecting the outcome to be perfect since we have a vintage cottage. The imperfections in this custom built kitchen will give it the character it deserves.
Working on all these random kitchen projects in our little pine cottage helped us to see the light at the end of the kitchen renovation tunnel a bit better!
CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS
Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own~ while working full time jobs! Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead. Read more about us here.
You can also watch a video about this here.
To see more adventures of our fixer upper journey, click on the links below.
🌲🪚 FINISHING BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERTOP WITH UNIQUE TRIM AND TUNG OIL 🔥🪵
🚰🪚 WORKING ON SINK CUT OUT FOR BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERTOP 🪵🧰
